Contagion, Semantic, and Cognitive Theories

This chapter reviews theory and research that seeks to explain the emergence of communication networks based on individuals’ cognitions about other people and the relations among those individuals. Contagion theories seek to explain networks as conduits for “infectious” attitudes and behavior. Semantic theories attempt explanations on the basis of networks that map similarities among individuals’ interpretations. Theories of cognitive social structures examine cognitions regarding “who knows who” and “who knows who knows who,” while theories of cognitive knowledge structures examine cognitions of “who knows what” and “who knows who knows what.” Finally, cognitive consistency theories explain how networks are understood on the basis of individuals’ cognitions of consistency or balance in their networks. The remainder of this chapter discusses each of these areas and their extensions. Contagion theories are based on the assumption that the opportunities for contact provided by communication networks serve as a mechanism that exposes people, groups, and organizations to information, attitudinal messages, and the behavior of others (Burt, 1980, 1987; Contractor & Eisenberg, 1990). This exposure increases the likelihood that network members will develop beliefs, assumptions, and attitudes that are similar to those of others in their network (Carley, 1991; Carley & Kaufer, 1993). The contagion approach seeks to explain organizational members’ knowledge, attitudes, and behavior on the basis of information, attitudes, and behavior of others in the network to whom they are linked. Rogers and Kincaid (1981) refer to this as the convergence model of communication. Theories that are premised on a contagion model, at least in part, include social information processing theory (Fulk, Steinfield, Schmitz, & Power, 1987; Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978), social influence theory (Fulk, Schmitz, & Steinfield, 1990; see also Marsden & Friedkin, 1993), structural theory of action (Burt, 1982), symbolic interactionist perspectives (Trevino, Lengel, & Daft, 1987), mimetic processes exemplified by institutional theories (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983; Meyer & Rowan, 1977), and social cognitive and learning theories (Bandura, 1986). Fulk (1993) notes that these constructivist perspectives “share the core proposition that social and symbolic processes produce patterns of shared cognitions and behaviors that arise from forces well beyond the demands of the straightforward task of information processing in organizations”.